We’re looking forward to introducing you to D. Renay Thomas. Check out our conversation below.
Hi D. Renay, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What do you think others are secretly struggling with—but never say?
Honestly? Their mental health.
People wake up every day battling sadness, burnout, anxiety, self-doubt… and they still show up like nothing’s wrong. Most people don’t talk about how tired they really are or how hard it is to keep going.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is D Renay, and I’m the creator of PH8SES — a streetwear brand built out of real life, real struggle, and real healing. I started the brand during a season where everything in my life was shifting: emotionally, mentally, and personally. It was one of those moments where you realize you’re being broken down so you can rebuild differently.
PH8SES is spelled with an 8 because the number 8 represents new beginnings, infinity, and transformation. But in my brand, the 8 is shattered — on purpose. It symbolizes the phases we go through that leave marks on us: heartbreak, identity shifts, mental health battles, becoming a parent, outgrowing people, or just trying to hold yourself together when life gets heavy. Every 8 breaks different, but breaking doesn’t mean you’re done. It means you’re in a phase that’s shaping you.
PH8SES is special because it’s not just clothes — it’s storytelling. It’s a mindset. It’s what you wear when you’re rebuilding, when you’re still fighting, when you’re becoming the version of yourself that doesn’t quit. Each drop is tied to a specific phase of the journey. My new fall release, “I 8in’t Done Yet,” represents resilience and the grind — that moment when you’re tired but you keep going because you know you’re not finished yet.
I’m building a brand for people who’ve been through something. People who want to wear their progress, not hide from it. PH8SES is for the ones still healing, still growing, still becoming — and unapologetically doing it their way.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
Before the world tried to shape me, I was soft in a way that felt safe. I was outgoing, open, and living without the weight of survival mode. I laughed easier. Loved easier. I was the version of me that existed before the scars — the one who lived unapologetically without worrying who it made uncomfortable.
Do you remember a time someone truly listened to you?
If I’m being completely honest… no. I don’t think I’ve ever truly felt heard. Not in the way where someone sits with you, sees you, and actually understands what you’re trying to say beneath the words.
Most of my life, I’ve felt like I had to shrink pieces of myself, swallow my feelings, or carry things alone because nobody was really listening — not deeply. Not intentionally.
So I learned to hold it in. I learned to keep going. I learned to be strong even when I was tired of being strong.
And that’s why PH8SES means so much to me.
My brand became the place where I finally speak without fear of being dismissed. It’s where my feelings go when I don’t feel safe giving them to people.
Every design, every broken 8, every message… it’s me talking in a language I wasn’t allowed to use before.
PH8SES is the first place I’ve ever felt heard — even if I had to create it myself.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Whom do you admire for their character, not their power?
I admire the people who stayed soft even after life gave them every reason to harden.
The ones who didn’t let betrayal turn them cold, who didn’t let heartbreak make them bitter, who still choose love and vulnerability even when it hasn’t always been kind to them.
Because I know what it feels like to lose that softness.
Life can harden you without you realizing it — one disappointment at a time, one heartbreak at a time, one quiet struggle at a time. And before you know it, you’re guarded, you’re distant, you’re in survival mode instead of living.
So when I see people who still lead with softness… who still show up with open hearts despite the wounds they carry… that hits different for me.
That kind of character is rare, and it’s something I aspire to get back to in my own way.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
If I only had 10 years left, I’d stop putting everybody else before myself — immediately.
I’ve spent too much of my life worrying about who approves, who’s watching, who might judge me for choosing myself. I’d let all of that go.
I’d stop living small.
I’d stop shrinking who I am to make other people comfortable.
I’d stop explaining my choices or apologizing for wanting more.
If I had 10 years left, every single move would be for me and my son.
I’d live louder. I’d love myself harder. I’d give us the version of me that isn’t performing, isn’t surviving, isn’t trying to prove anything to anybody.
Just me — fully, finally, unapologetically.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ph8ses.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theph8ses
